Westsail 32 Engine (Perkins 4108) removal and rear main seal replacement

If you have read my journal you would have seen the removal of my Westsail's engine in February 2005. This article is more detailed than the brief overview in the journal and I hope it assists anyone who has the need to remove their engine. Fortunately the Westsail 32 is one of the easiest yachts to access and remove the engine from.

Special thanks must go to Todd who carried out the overhaul and operates a fine diesel mechanical workshop in Moorooka, Brisbane. If you need some work on your diesel contact Todd at:

TMW Automotive & Marine - tel: 07 3892 4898 mobile: 0414 389 248

The Symptoms

Initially my engine was leaking oil into the tray, but i could not locate the origin of the leak. If I was motoring the engine would be losing up to 2 litres of oil every 5 hours. This was generally only if the engine was working hard and at lower revs the leak was not so bad. I checked everything I could access visually including oil hoses and filters. I initially thought the leak was coming from the spin on oil filter at the rear of the motor as this is where the oil was dripping from, however it turned out not to be the problem. It was eventually discovered that the rear main seal was the problem and the engine would need to be removed for replacement of the seal.

There are a number of ways the engine could be removed and I imagine that the use of a block & tackle attached to the boom (whilst supported in the boom gallows) could even be used. In my case the yacht was being slipped to carry out some maintenance and this was an opportune time to have a crane attend to lift it out. I would suggest that a couple of hundred dollars spent on the crane is money well spent as the engine can be easily lifted out and straight onto a truck or utility for transportation to a diesel mechanics shop.

The first step is obviously the removal of all electricals and hoses attaching the engine to the boat. The alternator should also be removed. The prop shaft also needs to be disconnected and pushed aft out of the way.

In my case I removed the rear engine mounts as they were easy to access, however the front engine mounts were not so easy and the nuts were simply removed and the engine lifted up and over the threaded bolts.

The photo below is taken through the engine bay door prior to anything being removed from the engine. You can see the front lifting point to the left of the red cooling fluid cap.

The next step was to connect the chain (or alternatively use a sling) to the engine. I used a chain and connected it to the front and rear lifting points. The photo below shows the rear of the engine slightly lifted. It was necessary to lift the engine straight up about 3 inches to clear the front engine mount bolts. Once this was done two planks were clayed under the engine to support it.

It is necessary to lift the engine at approximately 45 degrees or even greater to clear the front of the cockpit floor. I did this by using a rope around the lifting chain then under the end of the gear box. (This needs to be done after the engine is lifted straight up to clear the front engine mounts) By using a couple of hitches this lifts the back of the engine to the necessary angle. You can see the angle of the engine in the photos below and the rope configuration used to create the angle of lift.

Once this is done the crane can commence its lift. Two people should be able to handle the removal by gently guiding the engine up and out of the cockpit hatch.

Who says the Perkins 4108 can't fly...

going down....

Note the angle of the engine needed for removal.

Note the rear engine mounts have been removed from the engine bay pan. This may be different on some other westsails and it would be no problem to leave the engine mounts attached to the pan. It was just convenient to remove the rear ones on mine.

Dropped onto the back of Todd's truck and ready for transport to the TMW Automotive workshop.

This is the engine room, minus the engine. Look at all that extra storage space now. The only thing which hindered the removal of the engine was the batteries as seen in the left of the photo below. It was necessary to remove the second battery from the aft, but this may not be necessary for all W32's and would depend on the individual battery setup.

Todd gives a quick steam clean to remove all the oil so that the leak can be positively identified.

Since the leak was present even without load it was only necessary to run the engine long enough to reach running temperature. At this point the leaks were evident.

Above is a front view of the engine running and below a rear view of it running.

Here is the engine after the bell housing has been removed. There was an accumulation of oil at the bottom of the bell housing. This was caused by oil leaking from the engine and into the bell housing. This then gets flicked around by the flywheel and there is a small hole in the bell housing where the oil leaks from.

Here is a close up shot of the hole the oil leaks out of from the bell housing

another photo of the oil accumulated in the bottom of the bell housing after removal.

The main culprit.... here you can see the oil leaking from the rear main seal.

After a thorough inspection the good news is that the engine is not in need of a major overhaul and the removal exercise is primarily to facilitate the replacement of all the seals and hoses. Below is a picture taken from the bottom showing the sump removed.

The next picture shows the oil pickup with a build up of sludge.

One problem encountered on the engine was the drive coupling. A broken spring was discovered and this necessitated the replacement of the coupling. You can see the broken spring in the photo below.

Below is the new and the old. You can see the heavier springs used in the replacement.

A diesel leak was found coming from the injector pump. The replacement of the injector pump would be an expensive exercise and since it was not major it was recommended that an O-ring be used to stop the leak. If this is unsuccessful, then the pump is reasonably easy to access and can be repaired once the engine is back in. Below is the injector pump with the back section removed to allow replacement of the O-ring.

Below shows the raw water pump removed to replace the seal.

and the side cover removed also to replace the gasket.

Contrary to what I suggested above, in regard to the injector pump, I decided to have it overhauled as the O ring option didn't seem to stop the diesel leak completely. I figure that it is better to do it now when the engine is out. Below is the injector pump removed from the engine.

Below is the side cover and lift pump refitted.

Header tank removed to fit new thermostat

Rocker cover removed to replace the gasket.

And below is the main reason the engine came out. The sump and rear main are now back on the motor and hopefully the new seal will fix the oil leak.

Engine backing plate cleaned and refitted

Turning the engine over by hand (and a big shifter) to adjust rocker clearances.

Adjustment of rockers

Flywheel back on the engine

Another gasket to be replaced. Below shows the timing cover removed to fit a new gasket.

the picture below shows the screwdriver pointing to a groove worn into the crank pulley by the timing cover seal

and after a sleave has been fitted so the pulley has a smooth surface to run on.

Injector pump has been overhauled and refitted to the motor.

Timing cover and chrankshaft pulley is now refitted

and finally finished with a new paint job ready for the gearbox to be attached.

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